Appreciating Your Bathroom
Because many people work long hours and rush through their morning and evening rituals, the bathroom can easily become messy. The incredible variety of toiletries available only complicates the problem, as most bathrooms have cupboards full of half-used toothpaste tubes, shampoo bottles, and other personal-grooming products. It can be tempting to buy more of these products than we actually need, because they all promise something different. If you have difficult hair or skin, the temptation only increases, along with those half-full bottles littering the bathroom closet and cabinets.
For most people, it can be a challenge to find time to sort through the clutter and to keep the bathroom sparkling. Your bathroom, however, doesn't need to invite chaos. Nor should you feel like cringing when guests ask to use it. By taking just a few moments each day to order that space, it can be transformed from a place of chaos and clutter into a restful, serene retreat.
Be Attentive to Little Things
You do not need to remodel your bathroom to make it presentable. Instead, focus on being attentive to the little things when you're in there — be honest with yourself about what you want to keep and what you want to let go of, and learn to squeeze short cleaning segments into your regular trips into the bathroom.
While disposing of half-used bottles of shampoo makes you feel guilty about the waste, keep in mind that products that sit in your cabinet month after month are already being wasted. You might as well forgive yourself for purchasing something that didn't work out and start fresh by getting rid of anything you don't use.
Also, as you begin to tackle the bathroom, think about how you use the space. Although it is possible to modify your habits, try to be realistic about what is actually possible. Sometimes, books on bathroom design will show lovely pictures of glass-fronted cabinets full of neatly folded white towels and perfectly arranged Q-tips, cotton balls, and other toiletries. Although this look might appeal to you, keep in mind the real cost of trying to pull it off. Do you want all your towels exposed? Do you want to spend time folding and smoothing towels so that your display can be perfect, or would you rather organize your bathroom with many simple shortcuts in mind?
This chapter offers simple ways to improve the function and feel of your bathroom. Although this room can be a challenge, it can also be an opportunity. No matter how your bathroom looks at this moment, be encouraged by the thought that with a little bit of regular work and very little cost, it can become quite a different place.
The Comforts of Water
Of all the rooms in your home, the bathroom offers a radically different type of comfort. It offers the cleansing, soothing comfort of water. If your hot-water tank has ever gone out on you, then you've surely realized how we take hot water for granted. As plain and practical as hot water is, it is also one of life's great luxuries.
Victoria Moran, on bathing: “Block out time for it on your appointment calendar. Decide what you want from this bath: Do you want to pamper yourself? Prepare for a social gathering? Think through a knotty problem? Soothe aching muscles or stiff joints? Orchestrate your bath accordingly.”
Whether your bathroom is tiny and outdated or large and recently remodeled, it offers essentially the same gift to you — a place to shower or bathe, a place to pamper yourself, and a refuge from the rushed pace of life.
Regular Maintenance
On your first bathroom run, you can do something as simple as throw out two empty shampoo bottles. While this may seem like a tiny thing (and the effort is indeed minuscule) you'll find that a little less clutter will make the bathroom feel a little more spacious. On other trips to the bathroom, you can quickly wipe down the yucky tiles around the toilet, clean the mirror, or pick up a few towels from the floor. You don't need to spend two days cleaning your bathroom to make it shine. Think instead of spending a few moments each day attending to specific problems in the bathroom.
The FlyLady suggests that you can actually clean the tub ring while you're in the tub: “All it takes is a little bath soap on a washcloth, not cleansers to get it wiped right off. This is when the ‘Do it now’ principle kicks in. Ten seconds while you're in the tub saves a lot of bending and backache when you're fully dressed.”
Although the FlyLady suggests using a little bit of soap to clean the bathtub ring, an alternative that can get your entire bath clean and soothe aching muscles is to keep a box of baking soda beside the tub. If you add a generous amount to your bath — about a quarter box, you'll be able to soothe sore muscles and clean the tub at the same time. While relaxing in the tub, you can scrub down the sides of the tub with the baking soda. Baking soda is an effective cleanser (and can even be used on your teeth), but it is also gentle and nonabrasive. Learn more about simplifying cleaning in Chapter 18.
Because keeping the bathroom orderly can be a huge challenge, try to break the work down into small, manageable steps. Make bathroom maintenance a regular part of your routine and it will become less burdensome for you. Remember what the FlyLady says: “Even imperfect housework blesses my family.”
